Don't Give Up The Ship
Sometimes we have rough times, and recently I've had a lot of them. But God has taught me a very valuable lesson. And believe it or not He taught it to me while I was on an island.
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Out of all the things I've learned the past three weeks there is one saying that has become near and dear to my heart.
If you follow me on Facebook you will know that recently my family took a nice little mini vacation to Put In Bay. This is a saying that is seen vastly throughout the island. I've seen it for years, every time we go actually. I've taken countless pictures of that same rock and used it for old Instagram posts, Snapchat Stories, and probably Facebook photos as well. But this saying has never touched me as much as it did this last week.
The story behind the saying goes something like this:
In the year 1813 Captain James Lawrence of the American Navy commanded troops aboard the ship USS Chesapeake to fight against the British ship HMS Shannon. It was a single-ship action fight, meaning that it was those two ships alone fighting against each other. Long story somewhat shorter, the British were victorious and captured the USS Chesapeake on June 1, 1813. During the vigorous fight between the two ships Captain Lawrence was fatally wounded and was taken below deck. This is where the saying comes to life. On June 4, 1813 as the British officers who had taken over the USS Chesapeake were steering it to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Captain James Lawrence whispered his last dying command to his troops. "Don't give up the ship!" Shortly after his death was reported to another captain, they were ordered to make a blue flag with that saying written on it in all white letters, and it was proudly hung September 1813 when the British were finally defeated on Lake Erie.
Can you picture that? You're fighting for the lives of many, commanding men and taking care of a ship. You're wounded and dying. Your troops have lost, their fate now unknown. Your ship is being commanded by the very people you were fighting against, on its way to a foreign land. And the very last words you ever say are "don't give up the ship." Wow.
I've been down and out the past couple of weeks. Yet, when this crazy world has brought me down and I feel like falling instead of standing my ground, God whispers "Nina, lean on me, don't give up the ship." He brings me close to Him and comforts me, He helps me to continue to fight. To not give up. So my friends, I will share with you what God has shared with me.
We all have bad days, bad months, bad years. We all have moments where we physically and spiritually cannot go on. We feel worthless and unable of producing any type of joy, but remember that He is fighting for you. He loves you. He will never leave or forsake you. You just have to lean on Him and know that He is for you, through the ups AND the downs, so.....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Out of all the things I've learned the past three weeks there is one saying that has become near and dear to my heart.
If you follow me on Facebook you will know that recently my family took a nice little mini vacation to Put In Bay. This is a saying that is seen vastly throughout the island. I've seen it for years, every time we go actually. I've taken countless pictures of that same rock and used it for old Instagram posts, Snapchat Stories, and probably Facebook photos as well. But this saying has never touched me as much as it did this last week.
The story behind the saying goes something like this:
In the year 1813 Captain James Lawrence of the American Navy commanded troops aboard the ship USS Chesapeake to fight against the British ship HMS Shannon. It was a single-ship action fight, meaning that it was those two ships alone fighting against each other. Long story somewhat shorter, the British were victorious and captured the USS Chesapeake on June 1, 1813. During the vigorous fight between the two ships Captain Lawrence was fatally wounded and was taken below deck. This is where the saying comes to life. On June 4, 1813 as the British officers who had taken over the USS Chesapeake were steering it to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Captain James Lawrence whispered his last dying command to his troops. "Don't give up the ship!" Shortly after his death was reported to another captain, they were ordered to make a blue flag with that saying written on it in all white letters, and it was proudly hung September 1813 when the British were finally defeated on Lake Erie.
Can you picture that? You're fighting for the lives of many, commanding men and taking care of a ship. You're wounded and dying. Your troops have lost, their fate now unknown. Your ship is being commanded by the very people you were fighting against, on its way to a foreign land. And the very last words you ever say are "don't give up the ship." Wow.
I've been down and out the past couple of weeks. Yet, when this crazy world has brought me down and I feel like falling instead of standing my ground, God whispers "Nina, lean on me, don't give up the ship." He brings me close to Him and comforts me, He helps me to continue to fight. To not give up. So my friends, I will share with you what God has shared with me.
We all have bad days, bad months, bad years. We all have moments where we physically and spiritually cannot go on. We feel worthless and unable of producing any type of joy, but remember that He is fighting for you. He loves you. He will never leave or forsake you. You just have to lean on Him and know that He is for you, through the ups AND the downs, so.....
"DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP!"
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